Universal clock



Oct. 6, 1959 Filed Sept. 6, 1956 Oct. 6, 1959 M. BACCARA 2907166 UNIVERSAL`CLOCK Filed Se t. 6, 1956 s Sheets-Sheet 2 20 F Ig. 2

Mrio Baccra M. BACCARA UNIVERSAL CLOCK Oct. 6, 1959 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Sept. 6. 1956 Mario Bacear INVENTOR.

initeci States l atent UNIVERSAL CLOCK Mario Baccara, Caracas, Venezuela Application September 6, 1956, Serial No. 608,231

6 Claims. (Cl. 58-44) This invention relates to a global or Universal time indicator and it has for its main object to provide a universal clock of the above-mentioned type indicating on a rotating, constantly and uniformly driven translucent globe provided with a map, by means of an hour ring, the correct time for each place on the globe which may be selected, while simultaneously, by means of an internal illumination, the hours of the day and of the night and also the time of sunrise and Sunset are indicated.

A further main object of the invention consists in so adjusting the internal illumination of the globe and the hour ring in accordance with the date on which the reading is made so that the indication of the day and night hours and of the hours of sunrise and Sunset will be correct for every place on every day.

A further object of the invention consists in providing 'a constant, uniform drive, Synchronized with the speed of rotation of the earth around its axis, for the translucent globe, while providing a dual manual drive for the members, providing a ditierentiated indication for ay and night and for the hour ring, the two drive means of the dual drive being independent of each other.

A further object of the invention consists in providing a compact, simple concentric arrangement for all the drives of the Universal clock, which is aligned with the axis of rotation of the globe, while the members which are rotatable around a different axis are rotatably supported and driven by arms extending from members located in said axis of rotatoin.

The invention has for its further object to provide suitable means for the above named indications and adjustments, which objects, however, will be explained in the course of the following specification and claims.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings showing one embodiment there- Of. It is, however, to be understood that the embodiment shown by way of example may be modified in many respects which will be obvious to the expert Skilled in the 'art with respect to the mechanical construction without in any way departing from the principle of the invention. The drawing illustrates said principle and shows the best way of carrying it into eiect.

In the drawings: Figure l is an elevational view Of my universal clock according to the invention.

Figure 2 is an elevational sectional view Of the universal clock.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional elevational View showing the mechanism illustrated in Figure 2 on a larger scale.

Figure 4 is a sectional plan view, the section being taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

The invention is based on the principle of showing the global time, sometimes called universal time, for any location on the terrestrial globe which may be selected by an observer by means of a rotating, translucent or semi-transparent Sphere which may carry a. Inap of the terrestrial globe and which is mechanically driven at a speed which is equal to the speed of rotation of the earth,

2,907,166 IF L tented Oct. 6, 1959 such globe being simultaneously provided with illuminating means, lighting that portion of the globe which corresponds to the portion of the terrestrial globe illuminated by the sun, and therefore shows daylight, the remainder of the globe being in the shadow to indicate the night hours. This illumination may also indicate simultaneously the precise hours of sunrise and Sunset. AS well known, the last-named indication varies from day to day with the movement of the earth around the sun during the year. The variable duration of the night at each location and the changing indication of the sunset and sunrise is Corrected by manual adjustment using a separate manual driving device. Thus, not only the correct time but also the correct indication of the duration of the day and night and the correct hours of the sunrise and Sunset for each location on the globe may be ascertained.

According to the invention, a globe 1 of translucent material, for instance, a globe consisting of a semi-transparent plastic, is rotatably held on a base generally indicated at 3. The translucent or somi-transparent globe 1 may carry a map of the terrestrial surface and may be provided with a Conventional network of meridians and parallels indicating longitude and latitude.

The axis of rotation of the globe is preferably arranged at an angle of 23 30' with respect to the vertical which. corresponds to the angle at which the earth s axis is inclined to the plane of the ecliptic for diciactic purposes' The globe is provided with two holes or openings 27, 28 located at diametrically opposite ends thereof and isiixedly held on its lower end by means of a rotatable sleeve 26, the uppermost portion of which is provided With a flange 11 having an annular groove.

The sleeve 26 is rotatable Within a bearing ring 29 which is integral With an arcuate supporting member 321 reaching around about one-half of the globe to the upper end thereof. The supporting member 32 may be bol low, as indicated, to form a channel for the Wiring to be described below.

The arcuate support 32 and the bearing ring 29 which form an integral unit are supported by means of the arcuate supporting structure indicated at 34 which may consist of a hollow tubular member of square cross-section. The supporting member 44 is firmly held by the top cover of the spacing for the date disk. The baseboard 35 supports the easing 36 housing the driving nnechanism.

At the upper end of the arcuate support 32 an insulating bushing 21 is arranged which holds a bolt 20 forming an axle pin for the rotating globe and which is also provided with a lateral arm 56 for a purpose described below. The axle pin or bolt 20 is held by means of a screw 33 passing through the top portion of the insulating bushing 21.

The bolt 20 passes through the opening 28 in the top portion of the globe 1 and forms an axle pin around which the globe 1 may rotate. The axis of the axle bolt 20 is aligned with that of the sleeve 26 and the parts concentric with said sleeve. This axis forms the axis of rotation of the globe 1.

Fixedly held in the support ring 32 and by the casing 36 is an angular plate 37 inclined towards the horizontal on which an axial thrust bearing 23, which, preferably, is a ball bearing, may rest. This axial thrust bearing supports the lower end of the sleeve 26.

The sleeve 26 is supported throughout its length and is rotatable on the concentric tubular member 40, the lower end of which is provided with a iiange 41 which is fixed to the angular plate 37 by Suitable means (not shown).

The movement of the globe 1 around its axis is thus defined by the aligned axes of the sleeve 26 and the bolt 20. This movement is produced by a synchronous motor operating at slow speed, which, by means of 'a` 3 suitable gear mechanism, indicated at 8, drives a shaft 45 by means of a universal joint 48. This Shaft 45 carries a worm 46 engaging a worm wheel lil which is keyed to the sleeve 26.

Thus, the motor rotates the gear t and the shaft 'Pr5 by means of the nniversal joint The speed so regulated that globe it of plastic material performs one revolution during the period of rotation of the earth around its axis.

The universal joint 48 permits disengagement of the worm 46 from its engagement With the worm wheel tl. This disengagement is produced by means of the button 5 on the end of the axis 45 which protrudes through a slot of the casing 36 to the outside and which may be seized by an operator and may be laterally moved Within the slot (not shown), thus disengaging the worm 46 and the worm Wheel 10. However, normally the worm 46 is held in engagernent with the worm wheel EL tay means of a spring 25 urging the shaft 453 towards the worm wheel, the spring being attached to a lg or Projection 82 on the inside of the casing.

The disengagernent between the worm and worm wheel permits an independent motion of the globe 1 by hand which is sometimes necessary for adjustment or for other purposes.

In order to determine the time of the day or night of any location on the globe, a graduated equatorial ring 2 is provided which encircles the globe on the equator and which carries a Suitable time graduation, for instance, an hour graduation, with suitable subdivisions. Meridians drawn on the rotating globe, especially those drawn in conformity with the recognized time Zones encompassing 15 of longitude, will indicate the zonal time for each location of the globe at any moment. With respect to the Strictly local time, a section of the meridian must be Pawn, th intersection of which with the equatorial hour ring will indicate the local time within any zone at any desired place.

The equatorial hour ring .2 is held by a full circular ring 56 encircling the globe l completely along a me ridian. It is supported at it's lower end by a rotatable member, described below, which is rotatably mounted on the sleeve 26 and concentrc therewith. At its upper end, the ring 543 is provided with a bushing 52 which is insulating, if the ring is not itself of insulating material, and which supports the ring rotatably on the 'axle pin or bolt 20.

The ring may be provided on one side or on both Sides With a graduation, showing the latitudes.

To indicate whether at any place on the globe the time read is that of the day or of the night and also in order to indicate the sunrise and Sunset times, a special mechanism is provided according to the invention which consists of an opaque hemispherical shield 6 which -is placed inside the globe close to the globe surface 'and held in the interior of the globe in a manner to be described. This opaque hemispherical shield carries an illuminating lamp 22 on its concave side which may also be reflecting so that the concave side acts as an illuminating means for the globe, while the back side of the, shield prevents illumination and thus indicates night time.

In order to be in conformity with the actual conditions of illumination of the globe so as to indicate whether a place on the terrestrial globe is in the sun-illuminated -hemisphere or in the dark hemisphere, this shield must be rotatable around an :axis which is at right angles to the plane of the ecliptc and which is therefore at an angle of 23 30' with respect to the axis of rotation of the globe 1.

*In order to obtain this result, the hemispherical opaque shield 6 is held on extensions or side arms 56 and 77, re spectively, of members which are aligned With the axis of rotation of the globe 1, indicated in dotted lines at R, R. The upper end of the opaque hernispheric shield which the reading of the clock is made.

dates on the rim of the wheel are shown in Figures 6 is provided with'a small extension or finger 53 of insulating material carrying a metallic cup or needle pivot bowl 54- with a suitable orconical cavity forming part of a pin or needle bearing. The other part of the bearing is formed by the conical pivot pin or needle 55 located on the lateral ai'm 56 which engages the cavity of the cup or bowl. The lateral larn1. of the axle pin 20 is preferably arcuate in order to permit free rotation of the hernispherical shield. 6. The arcuate length of the arm 56 is such that when viewed from the center C of the globe, an angle of 23 30' is encompassed between the needle pivot and the axis Of the aXle pin. Somewlmat similar holding means on the lower end of the hemispherical shield are described below.

The illumination of the electric lamp 22 is produced by means of a wire 57 which is threaded through the hollow interior of the support 32 and whose lower end is con-' nected to 'a source of current, while the upper end is connected With the axle bolt 20 which, as stated above, is held within an insulated bushing 21- Current can be transmitted through the axle bolt 2t), the arm 56' and the needle or conical pivot pin 55 and through the bowl or cup 54 which is supported on the insulating finger 53 projecting from the hemispherical shield 6. A thin wire .59 is soldered to the bowl and leads to the socket 6ll of the lamp which may be mounted on an insulating base on the inner side of the hernispherical shield 6.

The current, which is preferably a low voltage current, may either be 'supplied from a special transformer connected With the main supply source, or a winding of the synchronous motor may be used as a transformer and the wire may therefore be connected with the said motor.

As has already been explained, the opaque hernispheri- Cal shield 6 obscuring one-half of the globe and illuminating the other half must be rotated from day to Clay on account of the diiierences in the time of the sunrise and Sunset at different latitudes which are due to the revolution of the earth around the sun. As well known, the sunrise and Sunset hours on the equator remain, however, the same. Not only the opaque hemispherical shield 6 has to be rotated, but also the equatorial ring 2 must be rotated with it in order to keep the ring in the correct position relatively to the hemispherical shield, so that the noon line is always located in a plane which bisects the hemispherical shield 6.

To perform this daily movement, a drive wheel 4 is arranged which may be termed the date Wheel and which is preferably horizontally arranged and housed in a iiat cavity 58 of the base plate 35; the said date ring is rotatably mounted on a Shaft 63, the hearings of which are located on or in the base plate. The said date wheel 4 projects through a slot 61 of the base plate 35 which may be provided with a mark 62 cooperating with the graduations on the periphery of the date wheel 4. This peripheral graduation contains the months of the year and a subdivision for every day of the month. This subdivi- Sion, when alignedwith the mark 62, indicates the day for The monthly 2 and 3.

The wheel 4 which is mounted upon the rotatable shaft 63 and acts as a drive wheel drives one of a pair `of bevel gear Wheels 13 which is mounted on the shaft 63 above the baseboard and which meshes with another bevel gear 64 mounted on 'an axle 65 which passes through and is' journalled in the hollow sleeve 40. Its axis is therefore coaxial with that of the member 40 and the rotatable sleeve 26. The shaft 63 is held axially by the axial bearing 67 whichis provided in a. boss 66 of the ground plate 35.

The shaft 63 carries a gear wheel 15 which, by means of the reversing gear wheel 16, drives gear wheel 17 keyed trai-ties the gear wheel 18 which nieshes with another gear wheel 19 which is r`otatable on and -cnceizttric with the sleeve 26, being loosely mounted on the latter. The gear wheel 19 may be axially supported by an axial bearing 75 which may be a ball bearing and which tests on the member 29.

This gear wheel 19 is provided with a stepped hub Ori which the supporting ring 50 of the equatorial hour ring` 2 is fixedly mounted. The supporting ring 50 is thus moved by means of the gear Wheels 13, 64, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 when the date wheel 4 carrying the monthly dates is turned.

On the shaft 65 carrying the bevel gear 64 which is' tu rned when the drive wheel 4 is rotated, a further gear wheel 14 made of transparent material such as plastic, glass or the-like is mounted. This gear wheel 14 meshes with another similar gear wheel 74 which in its turn is attached to the opaque hemispherical shield 6. The gear Wheels must be so arranged with respect to the hernispherical shield that they do not interfere with its rotation. The gear wheel 74 is provided with a cup or cavity 79 forming one part of a needle or conical pin bearing. The fixed tubular member 40 held by the members 29 and 37 is provided at its upper end with an extension forming arr arm 77 which carries a conical pivot pin or needle 78' cooperating with the cup 79.

As above stated, the two conical pivots or needle bearings 78, 79, and 55, 54 determine the axis around which the hernispherical shield 6 rotates. The shield Will therefore be rotated when the shaft 65 is rotated, the rotation being transmitted to the hemispherical shield by means of the two gears 14 and 74.

The rotation of the hemispherical shield 6 by the` manipulation of the date wheel 4 carrying the date graduations changes the position of the day and night hour indication. The lamp bulb 22, together with the rellecting interior of the hemispherical shield, permits a sharp delineation of the shadow of the shield on the equatorial hour ring 2, thus indicating the hours of sunrise and sunset for any place on the globe. The hour of sunrise of any locality, for instance, is determined by the intersection of the Outline of the hemispherical shield with the parallel drawn through the selected point, and a meridian drawn from the point of intersection towards the equatorial hour ring will immediately permit the determination of the hour of sunrise or Sunset.

In operation, the sphere 1 representing the globe, after decoupling by means of the coupling 5, is moved into the proper position and the proper electrical connections are made. The date wheel 4, moreover, is also brought into the proper position when the clock is used. After starting the motor 7, the clock indicates the time at any spot of the globe in the manner already described, following the meridian passing through the selected spot to the equator and by reading the scale on the equatorial hour ring. The globe Will be half lighted and half dark, the dark portion indicating the night hours. When the hemispherical shield has been correctly adjusted for the date, the illumination on the globe of the clock represents exactly the illumination on the terrestrial globe, and it is therefore easy to determine on the map whether a selected point is for the moment in the illuminated hemisphere and therefore shows daytirne, or whether it is in the non-illuminated hemisphere and shows night time. Likewise the hours of sunrise and Sunset are easily determined for any location on the globe by determining the difference in longitude between the point at which the outline of the hemispheri- Cal shield crosses the latitude of the point and the said point.

The globe may be provided with a celestial map and may be used as a celestial globe showing the stars visible on each night. Likewise, the hour ring may be provided with a season indicator such as the signs of the Zodiac.

It Will also be clear that the designation vertical used in the above specification means a position in Spac coincident With the normal to the ecliptit, but does not necessarily indicate a position parallel to the 'radius of the earth.

It will thus be seen that the universal' clock as above described not only gives avisual indication of the day and night, but also, in addition, acts as a universal indicator of the time of the sunrise and Sunset for every location. It is thus of high didactic value in addition to its value for navigation, etc. The simple and cornpact mounting of the parts further permits a small and space-saving structure, notwithstanding the fact that the interior of the globe is only used for the urpose of producing clear indications of day and night-time and of sunrise and Sunset time.

It will be clear that many details may be changed without in any Way departing from the essence of the invention as defined in the annexed claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A universal clock indicating day and night hours, the exact time and the time of sunrise and Sunset for any location on the globe comprising a translucent globe provided with map indications and Witll a network of indicating meridians and parallels, an equatorial hour ring encircling the equator of the globe, a supporting ring for said equatorial ring arranged along ameridian of the globe, and a hemispherical member rotatably supported Within the globe, the surface of which is arranged adjacent to the inner surface of the globe, a supporting base, means for driving said globe and for transmitting to it a rotary motion around an axis at the rate of one revolution for every revolution of the earth about its axis, said driving means including electric motor means, operating at a constant speed, gear means operated by the electric motor means and a hollow member driven by said gear means and arranged in a position inclined relatively to the vertical at the angle at which the earth's axis is inclined relatively to the ecliptic, means on said hollow member for gripping and holding said globe so as to rotate the same, means for transmitting a rotary motion manually and simultaneously to the hernispherical member within the globe around a substantially Vertical axis, and to the equatorial hour ring, said last-named means including a driving wheel rotatably arranged within said base provided with a date graduation, a shaft driven by said driving wheel and dual motion transmission means, one of the dual transmission means including gear members connected with the llemispherical member and the other one of tlre dual transmission means including a further gear member fixedly connected with the supporting ring of the equatorial hour ring, and separate motion transmission members connecting the drive wheel and said last-named further gear member and the gear members connected with the llemispherical members, respectively.

2. A universal clock indicating day and night hours, the exact time and the time of sunrise and Sunset for any location on the globe comprising a translucent globe provided with map inclications and with a network of indicating meridians and parallels, an equatorial hour ring encircling the equator of the globe, a supporting ring for said equatorial ring arranged along a meridian of the globe, and a hemispherical member rotatably supported within the globe, the surface of which is arranged adjacent to the inner surface of the globe, means for supporting said globe and for transmitting a rotary motion ot it around an axis arranged a-t an angle to the vertical, equal to the angle at which the earth's axis is inclined towards the ecliptic, means for rotating separately, independently and manually the hemispherical member around a substantially vertical axis and the equatorial hour ring, the two aforesaid means being housed within the base and concentrically arranged around an axis inclined With respect to the vertical at the angle at which the globe axis is inclined, the first- 

